Art is an Explosion!
When certain signs appear simultaneously, their meaning becomes clear: this was a Summoning Beast from somewhere beyond the forest—either deliberately released or having strayed here by accident.
Shirō leaned toward the first option. If it had simply wandered, it shouldn't have reached this far. This was the heartland of the Land of Fire, not far from Konoha. No matter how much it roamed, a Summoning Beast couldn't have slipped past unnoticed.
As for why Shirō didn't suspect it was one of Konoha's own Summoning Beasts—after all, the village maintained quite a few such creatures in the wild—there were good reasons.
First, all Summoning Beasts tied to Konoha were registered and monitored. If one had gone rogue, a mission would have already been issued to deal with it. That fact alone ruled out the possibility.
Second, even if a village-affiliated Summoning Beast was struggling, it would never attack humans. The village guaranteed their food supply and protection.
Third, these beasts didn't remain in Konoha's service for nothing. The more intelligent among them cooperated as scouts or guardians, acting as the village's eyes. They all understood each other's presence. Yet Shirō had received no word from any of them. Clearly, Konoha's intelligence reports were accurate: this wolf was not from the village.
Having confirmed this, Shirō pocketed the fang in his hand, delaying the summoning of his Dragon Tooth Soldiers for now.
He had no intention of personally fighting the wolf pack. That was the soldiers' role. But before that, he needed to sever the alpha wolf's summoning contract. If he didn't, it might be recalled by its master and escape.
So, from the shadows, Shirō let his chakra flow in controlled waves. Gradually, a shimmering fabric draped over his body—the Invisibility Cloth.
Despite its name, the cloak wasn't exceptional at physical concealment. Its strength lay in suppressing magical and chakra fluctuations. That was exactly what Shirō needed.
As the cloak covered him, the chakra raging inside his body went wild—like a storm straining against its cage. Yet outwardly, not a single trace leaked.
The berserk flow then stabilized, and blue, circuit-like lines spread across Shirō's body, glowing faintly. At the same time, a Contract Seal manifested—prepared and ready.
This was the crux of his plan.
Killing the alpha wolf outright would be easy—Shirō could silence it before it sent so much as a warning howl. But brute force would be pointless. He had come to test magecraft, and such a specimen was too valuable to waste.
Once ready, Shirō seized his chance. With a burst of speed, he Shunshined above the alpha wolf. Before it could react, his right hand slammed down.
"Contract Seal: Release!"
Black runes etched themselves around the wolf's neck, flashed briefly, then vanished. The summoning bond was gone—the alpha could no longer be recalled.
Without pause, Shirō pressed down on the beast and leapt away, snake fangs materializing in his hands. With a sweep, he scattered them around the wolf pack.
The moment they struck the ground, a black halo rippled outward, skeletal figures clawing their way up and encircling the wolves.
Shirō retreated to a tree branch, watching as his Dragon Tooth Soldiers engaged.
But what he saw made him frown. This batch was already crumbling.
"...What kind of useless trash did I make?" he muttered, shaking his head.
He summoned another squad immediately, dropping them from the air right onto the wolf pack. The clash resumed—ferocious but flawed.
The Dragon Tooth Soldiers' weapons gave them strong offense, but their defenses were weak. Their movements were less rigid now, but without coordination, they fell apart against the wolves' teamwork.
Predictably, they were routed again, though their performance had improved compared to earlier attempts.
By now, only the alpha and a handful of the strongest wolves remained.
The alpha wolf bared its fangs, growling low at Shirō while retreating cautiously. From his brief display, it had gauged Shirō's strength. It knew better than to charge recklessly.
But Shirō no longer cared. He had gathered the data he wanted. Now, the wolves would serve as fodder for a different experiment—one of his few direct attack spells.
From his sleeve, he withdrew two vials of blood and tossed them forward.
The alpha instantly tensed, muscles coiled to dodge. With a pair of warning growls, it signaled the others to scatter.
But the blood vials collided midair, bursting. The liquid expanded unnaturally, glowing with pinpricks of starlight.
"BOOM!"
A roaring explosion lit the clearing, the shockwave rustling Shirō's cloak.
This was a spell from the Fate/stay night Sakura route—one Medea had used after being enslaved by Zouken. But Shirō's mastery of it was crude. The casting time was too long for surprise use, and its power was unfocused.
The result was spectacular, but the damage diffused. Even so, several wolves lay dead, their bodies largely intact—a fortunate outcome for Shirō. The intelligence division could glean much from just one corpse.
Satisfied, he recorded the spell's flaws and began cleaning the battlefield. Luckily, the clearing prevented the blast from spreading. If it had, he'd have been helpless without Water Release to quench it.
Not that he would've used the spell in such a place to begin with.
Visit patreon.com/MexxyWave to get access to 30+ chapters